Phoenixes
History The Birth In the beginning, there was a simple stone lying in the middle of a dry, arid land bathing in the light of three suns. This stone was no different save for the fact that within it lie a burning fire. There was no true explanation for such. In phoenix lore, some believe that a piece of sun fell and blessed the land. Others believe that the fire was born after so long in the sun. There were no clear answers for the existence of the anomoly, but for years it absorbed the energy that the suns gave, fueling the fire inside. It was for this reason that the planet didn't burn into cinders from the three suns. The fire within became larger, and soon, the stone would crack down the middle. It wouldn't take long after that before the stone split in two, giving birth to a golden flame. It burned brightly, and the two halves of the stone that fell aside would reduce to ashes. The golden flame spread through the world, enveloping it in entirity over the course of a century. This flame burned for a millenia until finally fading, being absorbed back into the ashes of the stone that once contained them. From these very flames, life was breathed into the ash, giving birth to the first Phoenix. This phoenix would be known as the Divinitus. The birth of the primarchs The Divinitus grew, absorbing the heat and energy from the suns as sustenance for nearly a full millenia until it discovered the ability to produce the very flames that conceived it; the flames of life. It then gathered together four stones, breathing life into them. Within a year's time, they would hatch into what would be known as the four primarchs. Instead of being born with Golden feathers like the Divinitus had been, they were born with different patterns and colors. He named them Fractus, Exodus, Victus and Archus. The first to hatch, Exodus, was the closest to their father in looks, having yellow and orange feathers. Fractus, the secondborn had orange and red. Archus, the thirdborn had yellow feathers as well, tinted with white here and there, while Victus' feathers were completely blue. None however were capable of utilizing the flames of life. On the contrary, their flames only consumed and destroyed. The eldest son held the hottest flames naturally, and so forth until Victus who possessed a cold flame. It mattered not however, as the four were inseparable, at least until the great conflict. The final days of the Divinitus Years after their birth, the four Primarchs grew quite differently. The Divinitus had seen to such, blessing the eldest son with the flame of life, naming him the heir out of all of the Primarchs. He went on to create a legion of Phoenixes, becoming the "Allfather" of the firebirds. These Phoenixes weren't built as the Primarchs however. They were smaller, and burned less than the Primarchs had. Their power was not as great which, in the end, the Primarchs found suitable considering they were the leaders of their kind. In their father's honor, the four, along with the help of the sons of Exodus, crafted a massive temple made of a marble-like material from a nearby mountain, chiseled with the powerful beaks and talons only a phoenix possessed. Within originally stood four large pedestals, and a throne at the very back of the establishment for the Divinitus to sit upon, and reign as king. However, the Divinitus, having lived for a millenia, was tired, and nearing the end of his lifespan. Unlike his sons, he possessed not the ability of immortality and could not reincarnate through the ashes, but instead he was given a single, massive life to live. With his final act as the Divinitus, he flew to the highest mountain, and raised his wings toward the three suns. And then, in an act that could spark jealousy in any phoenix, he burned as brilliantly as a star. Once this magnificent spectacle was finished, the light faded, leaving only a statue in its wake. This statue, larger than any phoenix to date, burned a golden light; the same golden light produced by the golden flames that absorbed the suns' heat. Without this flame, life could not exist in these lands, and thus he would always be known as the Divinitus, Savior of Cibanhujy. What he didn't realize he had left, however, was what would be known as the Knayd Luhvmeld; The Great Conflict. The Great Conflict The Primarchs came together, naturally naming Exodus the new Phoenix King after the Divinitus, as he was the only one to possess the Flame of Life. Exodus ruled, and he ruled fairly. He treated his brothers as fellow kings. Unfortunately, this was not enough in the eyes of Victus. He was treated "specially" for two reasons; being the youngest brother, and being the coldest phoenix. Every phoenix conceived in history had represented the suns, and yet he was the only one to be cold. This sparked a deep seated envy within him. Now, as the years had gone by, many a phoenix desired power. It was only natural to wish to be higher on the heirarchy. They challenged the Primarchs, despite being dwarfed in size, and power. Even by Victus, who had the coldest flames, many Phoenixes were left encased in ice after he finished with them, leaving them unable to become ash, and thus frozen for eternity. He was growing colder, not only in flame, but in his demeanor as well. He believed that it was because he hadn't received enough of the flame, whereas Exodus who inherited the flame, had the hottest out of the four. Out of jealousy, one day, he got Exodus alone, and challenged his eldest brother to a "friendly" duel, grasping him by the neck with his beak. Exodus believed this to be a playful act by his younger brother considering how many wrestling matches they've had since they were hatchlings, and thus hadn't had a chance to fight him off when Victus suddenly crushed his throat, proceeding to devour his brother in order to imbibe within himself, the flames of life. Unfortunately this hadn't worked for Victus as well as he thought, leaving him struck with a guilt from killing his own brother. Needless to say, upon sensing Exodus' essense within Victus, Archus and Fractus were not pleased, turning their talon upon Victus immediately. Victus escaped, managing to fight off his brothers and flying away into exile. A following of phoenixes left with him. This left the grieving Archus and Fractus to rule. Fractus, the largest and physically strongest of the primarchs, became the new Phoenix King. Victus, in his exile, found an icy land where he found his true calling. His 'flame' was as cold as this near sunless land encased in ice. The phoenixes in his company also grew cold to match this land, and their leader. It was here that he found that the flame was only as cold as the phoenix was, and after killing his brother, his heart was encased in ice. He breathed ice, and became the Lnou Bruaheq, or Cryo Phoenix in human tongue. He also discovered the special ability that he had, and that was something equivalent to the Flame of Life. From ice, he could create new Phoenixes, just as Exodus once could do, and would do just that, bolstering his numbers. And then, in a great crusade to claim the Flame of Life from his father's statue in order to hold power over Fire and Ice, he attacked the Phoenixes relentlessly. Naturally, Fire beat Ice, it was not without cost. Fractus, defeated by his brother, would be thrown into space where his flame would slowly die. In a last act, he would revert to an egg, finding his way to earth. Archus, the final primarch, would defeat Victus, though thanks to immortality, there would be no permanent death, and thus endless war presided over Cibanhujy with Archus standing guard forever at his father's statue, allowing no entity access to the Flame. The Return of the King Fractus, having landed upon earth, would be found by a boy named Tsuyo in his egg form. The boy, curious of the fiery stone, took him in cared for him until he hatched once more. It took quite a bit to absorb the energy from the one sun, but eventually it sufficed, and once again the Primarch was born. It would only be when he fully matured again along with Tsuyo, renamed Manji, before the Primarch could open a portal back to his homeland, taking the human and first known summoner to Cibanhujy in order to train. The Phoenixes welcomed Fractus, but remained wary of Manji until his flames proved enough to impress them, and by human standards, his flames impressed to say the least. After training the man, he would be the first of his kind to summon Phoenixes, being held as high as a Primarch in status due to being capable of withstanding not only the incredible heat (thanks initially to being the Nibi's Jinchuuriki) of the land, but even the strongest flames of Archus without being incinerated which was the final test of acceptance in the land. Fractus, after training Manji, would take the throne once more, allowing Archus to protect the flames of life full-time which in itself is held in the upmost regard. If the Flames of Life were to fade, or are taken, there would be nothing to take in most of the energy of the three suns, and thus all would be incinerated which would result in the ironic extinction of the Phoenix. Ruhun Kiynt; The Honor Guard Fractus, in his first act as king, gathered twelve stones. These stones were then taken to the statue of the Divinitus to feed on some of the golden flames before being empowered by Fractus' own flames, birthing the sons of Fractus. Fractus, being the strongest and largest of the Primarchs physically, would produce those second only to he and Archus. These would be known as Ruhun Kiynt, the Honor Guard. They would be crafted armor made of a golden colored material. Their talons, and beaks are also coated in the same material, forever superheated, allowing cutting power rivaled only by the talons of the Primarchs, or a raiton enhanced blade. They would also have expanded the temple, accomodating eight more pedestals where they would sit, guarding their king/father. These guard are capable of not only Fire Release, but Scorch Release, Ash manipulation and Heat manipulation, the third and fourth being achievable solely through the means of senjutsu in most normal cases, but being the sons of Fractus who could produce the very act naturally, this was not an obstacle. Physiology and Anatomy The Phoenix, widely known for Fire Release, is of course able to use such naturally at a young age. They are also completely immune to such, as well most other heat/fire based offenses save for something like lightning. In fact, a phoenix is capable of sustaining life on the sun itself, and can bathe in lava without issue, and thus even amaterasu is ineffective against one. Even if a fire were created that would be hotter than a phoenix could handle, Phoenixes can absorb energy from heat and flames to become stronger, and would simply "eat" the flame. Every Phoenix is also capable of immortality through the means of reincarnation as well, being able to incinerate themselves through means known as the Flames of Renewal. Under normal circumstances, the Phoenix can choose to renew their youth or reincarnate into a more venerable state. The Firebird is also quite large as their status heightens. The basic phoenix can range from anywhere fifteen to fourty feet in height with equal wingspan with talons and beaks as sharp as razors. Orange and red feathers would adorn these birds, and their eyes anywhere on the warm color spectrum, from red to yellow. The honor guard stand just over forty feet, with stronger, larger wings, and even anywhere up to five tails resembling chains that they can freely control. They are usually armored with a tough, gold colored metal that can stand a ton of force before being pierced. These metals are also heat resistant due to the ridiculously hot environment of which they are made. A primarch leveled Phoenix dwarfs the honor guard, sitting high at fifty to sixty feet. These birds are layered in muscle, and can pierce even the armor of an honor guard. They find no need in armor, as their tough hides can handle multiple tons of force before giving, Fractus being able to handle up to ten, while Archus handling up to five. Not only that, but even the sharpest of metals, including the specialized honor guard talons, would have trouble piercing the bare hide of a Primarch. With the feathers compounded, the only way for a Phoenix to fight a Primarch is to be a Primarch level themselves, or at least outnumber the Primarch in question. Finally, the body heat a normal phoenix gives off is capable of burning others at close proximity. Because of this, one cannot work closely with them without having some form of basic heat resistance which training with them usually entails. Phoenix Primarchs: Fractus, at sixty feet, is the most physically dominant of Phoenix-kind, easily outmatching any phoenix in strength and speed. The body heat he's capable of generating naturally is equal to that of two suns, though on earth he's unable to do such as he would scorch the land for quite a distance, causing massive harm to the environment and thus has been taught to control his temperature, just as any phoenix is capable of doing. With his strong talons, he can rip apart titanium like paper, and his tails can reduce most into ribbons. His hide is also the toughest. Archus stands at fifty feet, and while not nearly as physically powerful as his brother Fractus, his flame is unrivaled. This is because of his duty standing guard over the body of the Divinitus. With Phoenixes naturally absorbing energy from heat, he stands absorbing the Flames of Life for as long as he lives, extending his power with fire far beyond any Phoenix in history save for his father's. Every Phoenix has the ability to "explode", generating thermal radiation at the cost of using all of their remaining energy, but Archus has enough energy due to his duty to currently generate enough to rival an H-bomb. Ridiculous as it may sound, it would cause him to reincarnate back into a hatchling, unable to do so again until he's absorbed the flames of life for decades once more. Not only this, but his natural body heat is equal to three of earth's suns combined. While these two are indeed the powerhouses of the Phoenix race, and can be summoned freely by those deemed worthy, they are the largest phoenixes to date (aside from the Divinitus of course) and being that large requires a massive amount of energy to sustain, thus giving them extremely limited time on the field, making the act of summoning the two a very strategic maneuver to be carefully consider. Their body heat is something to consider as well, not to mention the main element used being fire. The possibility for collateral damage is nearly imminent with even one of the two being on the field. To combat this weakness, Primarch level summonings are able to learn the ability to consciously gather energy from the sun, though this puts them at a vulnerable state due to the fact that their actions are limited while doing such, unable to even move without interrupting the gathering, similar to sage mode. Flames: The flames that a Phoenix can breathe can match Amaterasu's temperature, though Honor Guard and Primarchs have the ability to breathe out a fire capable of doubling its strength due to scorch release. At up to twenty thousand degrees, these flames are white, with tints of colors all over the spectrum appearing within. These are known as the Flames of Rayjah. These are used as a final test of a summoner in order to finalize their training by exposing them to these flames for a full sixty seconds outside of sage mode. The only known to take this test so far is Manji, who survived twice(once by Fractus initially, and once by Archus to complete his training) but was horribly burnt in the process of the second and required to be annointed by the Flames of Life in order to survive the aftermath. This was thanks to Archus' much more devastating flames. They do not need to be twenty thousand degrees however, and can be used as communication. Fractus, using the flames at a lower temperature, imparts knowledge of the Phoenix History as well as language to the initiates of training. There are also the Flames of Renewal; a silver flame which naturally marked the reincarnation cycle. In other uses, this flame actually can be used to heal a phoenix's wounds as well as all who bathed under them. The only flames these cannot heal are those inflicted by the Flames of Rayjah, which due to special properties, can only be healed by the Flames of Life. Summoners The walls of the temple contain the story of the Phoenix, inscribed by the Divinitus as well as Fractus after him, and legible to only those who can read the Phoenix's language. Behind the throne however, only to be touched by the Primarchs, Honor Guard, or Manji, is a wall with the names of the current and past summoners, listed as such: Yakekogi Manji Uchiha Machina Uchiha Masane Nara Jay The two Uchiha names however have been crossed through due to no longer being a summoner. Training Basic Training Training a human entails blessing them with the powers of a Phoenix, albeit to an extent that would allow human survival, as they are unable to reincarnate as a firebird is capable of doing. It also takes three years, though due to time working quite differeintly in Cibanhujy, one can spend this time and return to Earth through a portal system set up by Fractus which would result in but a few weeks time. The training begins with the human training to develop basic heat resistance, in order to handle the environment of Cibanhujy, or more specifically its three suns. In Manji's case, the Incineration technique allowed for a bit of a shortcut, though his body's heat resistance eventually became sufficient enough on its own. Once this has been satisfied, the initiate is taken to the Temple of the Phoenix King before the Honor Guard to take the first test, in which the Flames of Rayjah are used upon them at a temperature of around two thousand degrees to impart the Phoenix history and culture upon the recipient by the king himself. After that, if the neophyte survives, they are taken to the wilds by an honor guard or by their personal summon where a nest is made for them to reside in for the years that they are to use in order to complete the training. It is here that they will need to survive, while having their physical prowess tested by wildlife(dinosaurs which evolved from lizards over time, and other animals transported by Fractus and Manji as well as Cryophoenixes if truly unfortunate). The food that the trainee eats, such as local fruits and springs scattered about Cibanhujy is limited to what they can find, and thus the success rate is not high by any means. Not only must one survive, but they must also train relentlessly during the day with their phoenix. Without finding a spring for water, failure is imminent for most humans. The food has special properties which actually morph the human body, forcing a very painful evolution which allows for living under the stressful accommodations. By the end of the basic training, one's skin and eyes can stand up to a quarter of a single sun's heat with ease, or two thousand degrees fahrenheit without being burned. While the internal organs remain cool, under stress they can withstand just over a thousand if exposed, giving quite resistance to most fire ninjutsu, though by no means an immunity. Advanced Training With time, the resistance grows stronger as nourishment is properly ingested and training is done. This training begins about a year after the Initiate begins, though at this point the trainee is considered an adept. This is when the Phoenix begins to teach how to produce stronger flames; giving even a basic katon technique the potential to be a deadly engine of destruction. No longer is the trainee required to stay, but in order to advance the training, one must. The phoenix at this stage, can teach one the Flames of Renewal, a flame not meant to produce heat but instead heal as stated prior. These can indeed be learned but is dangerous, as messing up this training can endanger one's own life. After all, using flames to heal, messing up, and producing flames that destroy, can wind up fatal. Such is why it is postponed until the trainee's heat resistance is enhanced. At this point, Katon should easily survivable, unless constantly exposed, maxing out at five thousand degrees (unless given special circumstances). Even with resistance, with constant exposure to a sufficient enough heat, the internal organs can be cooked inside out. Though they should at this point be able to withstand three to five thousand degrees fahrenheit, as most chakra produced fires burn from 2000+, with a basic candle burning at 1800 degrees Fahrenheit on average, putting this into perspective. Manji is the only one capable of complete immunity, though as stated before, he was a special case. Having hosted the Nibi, he is no stranger to fire. Not only this, but absorbing the Flames of Life also doubles the resistance. He was only given the flames by Archus due to his closeness to the Phoenix King. No other would be able to come close to the flames without being thoroughly incinerated by Archus, and thus complete immunity is impossible to attain for most through this method. Finally, using flames at this point should be second nature, and thus chakra costs would be reduced due to the control of using the fire at this point. Mastery Training Just like most other summonings, Phoenixes are masters of natural energy gathered from the sun, as well as heat. Not to mention, there are two branches of ninjutsu that one is able to learn from the phoenix. In some cases, one can learn both given enough time, though of course one has to sacrifice a reset to learn these. Scorch release is taught to those who use the phoenix, though there are two extra branches besides the flames that absorb all moisture. There is Ash manipulation, and Heat manipulation. Both branches have their respective advantages and disadvantages in the field and is up to the user on how to utilize them. Not only this, but one can learn Sage art as well, which temporarily allows one to utilize both abilities, or enhancing them if one is able to use all of the arts. It also gives access to the Flames of Rayjah, though if misused, these flames can incinerate even the user. These flames are also much more chakra taxing. If one can use heat manipulation, one can absorb any heat in order to gather either chakra or nature energy passively in battle via a quick absorption method. Otherwise, the same drawback of needing to remain still is in effect. Heat Manipulation Vs Ash Manipulation Heat manipulation consists of altering the heat of the surrounding area, absorbing heat, expelling heat, and other heat based techniques in order to fight effectively on the battlefield. It also allows for changing your own body heat, and transferring heat to and from another object, or body. With sufficient heat, one can vibrate through any material, melting it in the process, resulting in an effective nin-taijutsu, or defense from such. Of course, this is more effective in hot climates, and thus in cold environments it can be relatively useless if there isn't much heat in the first place. Ash manipulation is made of burning the surrounding area into ashes that one can manipulate by lacing their chakra through them. With this, one can superheat them, or cool them. One can also control these ashes like a Magnet Release user with iron sand, or the one tail with sand. The downside to this however is how it's limited to materials that can be used as ash. Trivia Most of the terms, like Primarch and Divinitus have been taken from the lore of Warhammer 40k; a tabletop game. The Phoenix's language is Al Bhed, from Final Fantasy, or more specific, Final Fantasy X. Hereis how the runes look. I chose it because it looks like chicken scratch, perfect for a bird's language. The only one with a summoning scroll to the Phoenix is Manji. Any change within it is reflected on the wall of the temple and vice-versa. This was all made up in the span of a night and a half. lol If one wishes to advance their training, they need only contact Manji. Archus and Fractus are only to be used by Manji. Once again, contact Manji if you wish to use them or it will be voided harder than nothingness...And that's a lot of void, ya dig? The ridiculous temperatures used in lore are for RP. For battle purposes, the use of Phoenix-trained fire is limited to Amaterasu levels, because...you know...strongest Katon Ninjutsu, and all of that.